Intruder
by liblouella81
Summary: Brennan's life seems to be full of intruders...Will she cope with it or will she snap? Post Booth/Hannah! T for now, language mainly...might change to M in the future! BB!
1. Nothing is Wrong

****A/N: So, to my followers...I'm back! Momentarily, anyways! I've been SO freaking busy...I transferred jobs, moved, working a summer program with 50+ horrible future-juvenile-delinquents...aaahhh the life of a case manager! Regardless, I just found this on my computer and figured, hey...it's not too bad. **

**To my new readers...hey yall! :)  
**

**This story is post Booth-Hannah break-up...about a month after, actually. And of course, this story is going to have some mushy stuff in it. Why? Because I am apparently just flat out unable to write a plain ole action/drama story. However, it'll take a little while to get to that point. So...enjoy! :)  
**

**Don't own them...  
**

* * *

Moving quietly through the small apartment, she clung to the wall like a shadow. Tip-toeing down the hallway in her silk pajama pants and tank top, she heard the noise again. The noise that woke her up from her deep slumber was a quiet, creaky noise like someone walking across an old wooden floor. She gripped the baseball bat tighter in her delicate hands as she approached the intersection where the hallway met the living room.

Taking a deep breath and exhaling softly, Brennan drew the bat behind her as she flipped the light switch with one hand and rounded the corner. Letting out a noise resembling a battle cry, she pulled the bat back further as she saw the back of a tall man in her living room.

He spun around with eyes wide and hands up. "Bones! Stop!" Booth pleaded. Right before she swung the bat, she realized that the man in her living room was not, in fact, a burglar.

"Booth? What the HELL are you doing here?" she yelled as she dropped the bat. Making a 'ting' as it hit the hardwood floor, it rolled and eventually stopped as it hit Booth's shoe.

With a racing heart, he took a deep breath and let his hands fall to his sides. "Jesus, Bones. You were going to kill me!"

"YOU broke into MY apartment, Booth!" She yelled back and crossed her arms in front of her. "I'll ask again…what the HELL are you doing here?"

"Well, Bones…" he started, nearly hatefully. "First of all, I didn't break in. I have a key, remember?" he said holding up the small piece of metal in his hand. Brennan raised an eyebrow at her FBI partner. "Secondly, we have a case. And before you say anything, I tried calling and texting. You didn't answer."

"You _know_ that I turn my phone off when I'm actually trying to get some sleep. That doesn't give you the right to barge in here," she huffed. Brennan ran a hand through her messy hair as she glared at Booth through sleepy eyes.

"Bones, this came straight from Senator Kimbrough. He wants _us_ to solve this, so…come on," Booth said as he clapped his hands together twice. "Get dressed and let's go."

Rolling her eyes and sighing loudly, Brennan stomped off to her bedroom, slamming the door behind herself. She threw on a pair of jeans with a t-shirt, pulled her hair into a ponytail, and grabbed her messenger bag. "Let's go," she said sternly as she walked out the front door. Booth, dragging behind, had to take a couple of extra steps in order to keep up.

Once they reached Booth's SUV, he opened the passenger door for his partner. Knowing that she hated when people did things for her when she was perfectly capable for doing them herself, he rolled his eyes as she stopped by the vehicle, her hand on her hip. "Booth…" she started in on him.

"Just get in, Tempe…we don't have time to argue," he nearly pleaded as he stared into her stone cold gray eyes. Taking a deep breath, she conceded and climbed into the SUV. After shutting the door behind her, Booth ran around to the driver's side of the vehicle and climbed in.

As he started the engine and began driving, he looked over at Temperance. He knew that she couldn't have had any more than three hours of sleep, but he couldn't quit thinking about how beautiful she was. Despite the even-more-than-usual pale skin and the dark bags under her eyes, he couldn't keep his eyes off of her.

It had been a month since Hannah had shattered his dreams of marriage, and the first time in a long time that he actually took the time to notice how stunningly gorgeous Bones was. _His_ Bones.

Catching him looking at her, Brennan snapped. "What the hell are you looking at, Booth?" He knew she was furious, but he couldn't help it. He would have _loved _to give her more time to sleep but the governor had asked for their help.

"Nothing, Bones," he replied quietly and refocused his eyes back on the road, slouching down in the driver's seat.

* * *

The entire way to the crime scene was in deafening silence. Not only was Brennan exhausted, she had been furious with Booth for a month. Ever since that night in the bar, he hadn't acted the same towards her. He had been rude, pushy, and arrogant enough to kill something. She could put up with a lot of stuff, but not with him acting this differently. She had even tried to convince herself that it was just his defense mechanisms kicking in and "fight" was his choice against "flight." Psychobabble was most definitely not her favorite subject, but regardless…she needed _something_ to make herself feel better.

Once they arrived to the apparent middle-of-nowhere, Brennan stepped out of the vehicle and pulled on her work-jumpsuit. She snapped on rubber gloves and took off to where the rest of her squints were.

"What do we have, Bones?" Booth asked, keeping a safe distance. After shooting him a glare to kill all other glares, she squatted down by the mangled body.

"Male, age 25 to 30 . I can't do anything else until we get the body back to the damn lab," she barked. Cam's eyes widened as Brennan pulled her gloves off and started to retrace her steps back to the SUV.

"What the hell did you do, Seeley?" she asked and turned towards Booth, her eyes bigger than usual.

He grimaced as he put his sunglasses back over his eyes. "Woke her up at 3 in the morning and drove four hours to the middle-of-nowhere to look at a dead guy that she can't figure anything out until we get back to the lab which is four _more_ hours in a vehicle with me. THAT is what I did," he spat out, shoving his notebook back into his pocket.

Cam's eyes got wider than before as Booth snapped his fingers at some crime scene squint. "Get over here," he commanded. Hodgins approached the body and stopped by Cam.

"What's going on?" he whispered, noticing something wasn't quite right. Cam just shook her head and shot her eyes over to the FBI agent. Taking a hint, Hodgins nodded and bent down to look at the body.

"Get the body back to the lab. Dirt, grass, rocks, anything and everything near this body," Booth commanded. The intern that had been summoned narrowed his eyes. "I'M NOT KIDDING. MOVE IT. NOW."

"Ye-yes sir," the young man stuttered. Booth rolled his eyes behind his dark sunglasses and began down the trail that Brennan had made.

Once he climbed back in the SUV, he sighed as he saw Temperance sitting conservatively with her hands in her lap, her head straight forward, and her mouth sealed tight. "Bones…" he spoke softly.

"Just get me back to the lab, Booth," she directed.

"Are you going to tell me what the hell is wrong with you?" he quipped back as he started the engine.

"The only thing wrong with me, Agent Booth, is that I haven't acquired a sufficient amount of REM sleep in over 96 hours. Now, get me back to the lab so I can identify this body and go home." Her eyes never wandered away from looking out the windshield. Her answer was as scientific…and cold…as usual.

Putting the vehicle into drive, Booth began their journey back to Washington, D.C. During the long four-hour ride, all he could think about was her. He _knew_ that he had screwed up, and he _knew_ that she wasn't going to be easy to win back.

When Hannah moved her things out of Booth's apartment, he completely broke down. He just knew that she was the one that would marry him. The one that wouldn't reject what he had to offer. 'So much for that shitty idea,' he thought to himself. He was so lost, he had even considered talking to Sweets.

* * *

After they eventually got back to the Jeffersonian, Brennan retreated to her office. "Let me know when the body arrives," she called behind herself as she shut her office door. Booth stopped in the middle of the lab as his head fell towards the floor.

He picked it back up as his heart broke a little bit more. He could he have hurt her so bad? Treated her so badly? He had ignored her for a month. After knowing her, _loving_ her, for six years. As he sat on the couch on the walkway above the lab, his phone started ringing. "Booth," he answered and leaned back.

"Booth, it's Angela," the woman on the other end of the line informed him.

"Hey, Ange. What's going on?"

"Um…" she started. "Brennan just called me."

His eyes narrowed. "Okay? Is that supposed to mean something?"

"She was crying, Booth. Crying isn't even a good word for it. She was bawling. I couldn't understand what she was saying aside from 'Booth' and 'he hates me'…"

His heart dropped. "Oh…uh…" he stuttered, his heart breaking even more.

"Before I could ask any questions, she hung up on me. I just woke up, so it'll be an hour before I get to the lab. But I need you to go check on her," Angela told him.

"Okay, Ange. Thanks for calling and letting me know."

"Booth, what's going on?"

As he stood up, he took a deep breath. "I need to go check on her, Angela. We'll talk later." He snapped his phone shut and nearly sprinted down to Brennan's office.

Softly knocking on the door, he didn't hear a response. "Bones?" he called out. He reached for the doorknob, but it was locked. "Bones," he called louder as he knocked more heavily on the large door.

She flung the door open as she ran a hand across her own cheek, wiping a final tear. "Is the body here?" she asked quickly.

Booth shook his head. "Angela called me, Bones…" he spoke softly.

"Inform me when the body arrives," she repeated and stepped back into her office, pushing the door back towards its frame. Before it could shut, Booth intercepted it and took a step into her office.

"Bones…I think we need to talk," he walked slowly towards her desk where she was sitting.

Typing furiously at her keyboard, Brennan shook her head. "No. No we don't."

"Something's wrong, Bones. I've known you for too long and I know when something is wrong." He leaned against her desk, her eyes not straying from the computer screen.

"I'm fine, Booth. Now if you don't mind, I need to work on my book."

"I do mind, actually," he said and spun her chair around to face him. He knelt down in front of her and stared into her reddened gray eyes. "Tempe," he said with a sigh. "You _have_ to tell me what's wrong so I can fix it."

"_NOTHING_ IS WRONG," she spat back through gritted teeth.

Booth's head drooped. "Please tell me, Tempe…" he asked softly.

"How many ways can I say it, Booth? I'm tired, I'm exhausted, and I'm ready to get this damn case over with."

Nodding, Booth stood up. She could see the pain in his eyes, but it was no different than the pain he had been causing her. "Okay," he replied softly, knowing she wasn't going to budge. "I'll leave you alone."

"Finally," Brennan huffed and spun her chair back towards her computer. Booth stood by her office door with his arms crossed.

"Dr. Brennan, the body is here!" someone called out. She stood up, slid her lab coat on, and walked right past Booth without a second glance, leaving him with a bowed head as he leaned against the door frame.

"Mr. Edison, please prepare the body for examination," Brennan instructed as she stepped onto the platform.

"Yes, Dr. Brennan," he replied, quickly going to work.

Booth turned his head to pier out the office door, his heart fluttering as he saw her begin her examination on the decaying corpse. She was in her element, and, while being completely surrounded by nasty, dead things, she was absolutely everything he wanted. And it hit him like a ton of bricks. He _had_ to have her.


	2. Black Market

****Chapter dos! Enjoy! :)**

**Not mine...**  
**

* * *

With a fluorescent light angled at the corpse, Dr. Brennan inspected every inch of the guy. Booth watched as she carefully searched the body for any obvious signs as to what actually happened to the poor man lying beneath her. He took note of every strand of hair falling around her perfect face, along with every gentle and deliberate move she made doing what she loved.

"Earth to Booth!" he finally heard Cam calling him from the platform.

With a shake of his head, he took a deep breath. "Yeah?"

"This guy doesn't have any organs inside of him," she announced, blood-covered hands in the air as to not touch anything.

"Wait…what?" Booth asked, walking towards the corpse.

With a look of no amusement spread across her face, Cam repeated what she said, except slower. "He. Has. No. Organs."

Hodgins stops in his tracks when he hears Cam say this, along with Clark. "What?" they both asked at the same time.

* * *

"Are we talking Black Market shit here, Booth?" the FBI deputy director yelled over the phone.

Running a hand through his scraggly hair, Booth sighed. "We don't know yet, sir. I was just told to update you on anything that we find."

"You better figure this shit out, Booth!" he director snapped, hanging up the phone.

Finding the nearest squintern, Booth snapped his fingers. "Get a move on it!"

"What is your problem, Booth?" Temperance asks without looking up from her microscope.

With a chuckle, Booth shoved his phone back in his pocket. "What's my problem, Dr. Brennan? What's MY problem? MY problem is I have the deputy director breathing down my neck, there's a dead guy without any damn organs inside of him, and a partner that would rather me rot in hell than for her to have to speak to me!"

With that being said, he turned on his heel and started for the platform steps. "Excuse _me_?" Brennan asked, stopping him in his tracks. Turning his head back towards her, he raised an eyebrow as she quickly pulled off her latex gloves. "My office. _Now_," she instructed, taking the lead.

After he entered the office, she rested her hands against her desk. "Shut the door." Her words were cold, without any flexibility in tone.

As he shut the door, Booth winced, knowing this wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation. "How about you tell me what _your_ problem is, _now,_ Agent Booth." Temperance lifted her head and turned it towards him, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"I just told you, _Dr. Brennan,_" he enunciated her name very clearly.

"Incorrect," she informed him. "You told all of my _staff_ what your problems are. If you want to keep this little partnership going, Agent Booth, I suggest you learn about professionalism and what it means to be _discrete_."

"You're not discrete with anything," he quips, regretting his rebuttal as soon as the words leave his mouth.

"What exactly am I not discrete about?" she asked, taking a few steps toward him, her steel blue eyes pinched narrowed in on him.

"Hell, Temperance!" Booth sighed as he rolled his eyes. "Just this morning in that damn field…" he reminded her. "You were, and still are, pissed off at me and you didn't try any little bit to hide it!" Sitting down on the couch, he sank his head into his hands. "Don't you think that if we're partners…you know, a full-fledged team…that we shouldn't give _any_ staff members, mine or yours, reason to doubt our ability to solve cases and get our jobs done?"

His brown eyes finally look up and settle on her blue ones. "I'm sorry, Booth," her voice was raspy with a catch in it as she finally broke their gaze. "Let's just finish this case."

Attempting to walk to the door, she was stopped as Booth pulled at her arm. Giving into him, she melted into his chest and snaked her arms around his waist. She had missed the secure feeling of his embrace.

After a few moments, Booth rested his chin on the top of her head. "We're okay…right?" he asked, his hand caressing her back.

"I hope so," she breathed softly against his shirt, warming his skin underneath. "We're both tired. Let's get this over with."

Agreeing with her for the first time in a long while, Booth released her from his arms and held the door open for her. "Temperance?" his voice feeble as she looks back over her shoulder at him.

"Yeah?"

"Never mind," he shook his head with a pathetic excuse for a smile. Temperance returned the half-hearted smile and continued to the platform, swiping her nametag as she approached the first step.

"Mr. Edison, we have work to do," she informed him, snapping on a clean pair of gloves.

Booth watched her from a distance as she returned to her element. Her wavy hair falling out of its pony tail holder, the dark circles underneath her translucent blue eyes, everything about her. He took a deep breath, his nostrils flaring as ran a hand across his head. He knew it was going to be a long case.

* * *

When Booth returned to the Jeffersonian hours later, he bit the inside of his lip as he noticed the corpse's skin still being on the bones. He knew that if the case was going well, Temperance would have already gotten rid of the skin to get down to the bones.

After swiping his nametag, the few beeping tones signaled him that it was okay to enter the platform. Before returning to the lab, Booth had told himself to be in a better mood…that Temperance _deserved_ him in a good mood. With a very forced smile, he stopped as she looked up at him. "How's it going, Bones?"

Sighing, Temperance raised her safety glasses. "There are several small incisions," she pointed to the man's abdomen, "But it would be impossible to fit entire organs out of them."

"So what are we looking at, here? I gotta tell my boss something," he grimaced as he looked down at the guy.

"As of right now, our only conclusion is that someone used laparoscopic surgical tools to slice the organs and remove them piece by piece," Cam stepped in, knowing Brennan wouldn't jump to a conclusion like Booth wanted her to do.

He shook his head and looked down at his watch. "It's eight o'clock, guys," he announced. "This guy's not going anywhere. How about we try again in the morning, huh?" he suggested.

Standing up, Temperance pulled off her gloves. "I completely agree."

The entire ride back to Temperance's apartment was silent. Occasionally Booth would glance over and skim his eyes over her face, but nothing changed. As Booth parked the SUV outside of her building, he sighed. "What time do you want me to be here in the morning?"

"I'd like to get started early," she told him, gathering her bag and jacket. "Can you be here by six-thirty?"

"Sure thing," Booth answered, his usual smile overcome with exhaustion. "Goodnight, Temperance."

"Goodnight, Booth," she replied, stepping out of the SUV and closing the door.

As he watched her walk into the building, Booth's heart crumbled. He knew that what he had done was going to take some major doings to get things back on track. But he knew he had to do it.

* * *

Once inside, Temperance put her bag and jacket on a chair and began taking her shoes off. As the first shoe hit the floor, something caught her eye – there was a note standing up on the bar in the kitchen. With her eyebrows pinched together, she glanced around her apartment and slowly made her way to the note.

The outside was blank, but the inside wasn't as fortunate.

_Temperance – You have a very beautiful place, here.  
I hope Agent Booth likes it as well as you do.  
Yours – XOXO_

Without a second lapsing, she grabbed her phone from her bag and dialed Booth's number. "Booth," he answered, as per usual.

"Booth, I need you to come back here," she instructed.

"Did you forget something in the vehicle?" he asked, not wanting to have turn around in the middle of DC.

"Not quite," she spoke softly. "There was a note on my bar when I got inside."

Booth's eyes widened as he slammed on his brakes. All of a sudden, pulling a U-turn didn't seem like such a bad idea. "Temperance, go down to the lobby in your building. Wait with the doorman. Don't move until I get there."

Ending the call with that being said, Booth flipped on the sirens and lights, clearing a path between him and his Bones.

Doing as she was told, Temperance quickly, but cautiously, slipped her one shoe back on, grabbed her bag and jacket, and exited her apartment. Once downstairs, she smiled at Charles, the doorman. "I need to know who's been in the building that doesn't live here since I left at three o'clock this morning," she spoke softly, as to not cause a panic.

With a raised eyebrow, Charles nodded and pulled out the visitor sign-in book. She watched as he made a copy of all of the entries and smiled politely as he handed it to her. "Is something wrong, Dr. Brennan?" he asked, his question almost being cut off by Booth busting in the front door.

"Are you okay?" Booth asked, taking a couple more steps until he had reached Temperance, pulling her into his arms.

Nodding against his chest, she attempted to get loose from his grip. "I'm fine, Booth." Finally free, she reached into her bag and pulled out the card.

As he read the card, Booth's face drained of color and his eyes both darkened and widened. He immediately pulled out his cell phone and pushed a button. "Director Cullen, we have a situation," he spoke firmly into the phone. Temperance ran a hand through her tousled hair and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Dr. Brennan found a note inside her apartment just a few minutes ago, sir. It read '_Temperance – You have a very beautiful place here. I hope Agent Booth likes it as much as you do. Yours – XOXO.'_"

Temperance looked over and noticed Charles' eyes as wide as half-dollars. She turned back to hear the rest of Booth's call. "No, sir. It doesn't have any other markings on it. Right. Yes, sir."

As he put the phone back into his pocket, he took a deep breath. "I'm so glad you're okay," his voice was shaky. "A team will be here in five minutes to do a sweep. They'll do one here and one at my place, too."

With sleepy eyes, Temperance nodded. "How long will this take?" she asked, crumbling onto a chair beside the front desk.

"If they do the job they're supposed to do, it could take a couple of hours," Booth sighed. Hell, he was just as tired as she was. "Cullen said for us to find a, uh…a hotel for the night," he stuttered, running a hand through his hair.

"Do we have to be present for the sweep?" Her blue eyes were weak as they looked up into his brown ones.

"Whichever agents cover this will need your statement. But then we can go," he assured her.

* * *

After twenty more minutes, Temperance had given her statement to three FBI agents and had packed a small bag for the night with the supervision of Booth. "You ready to go find a place to stay?" he asked, guiding her very quickly back out of the apartment.

Temperance nodded as she shoved her keys into her pocket.

"Any preferences as to which place?" he asked, holding the front door of the building open for her.

"Booth, for all I care right now, I'm willing to sleep in the SUV. Just get me somewhere."

With a deep breath and a nod, he climbed in the driver's side of the SUV and hit the gas.

* * *

Pulling into the third hotel he saw, Booth killed the SUV's engine as he parked under the awning. Before he was able to make it to the other side, Temperance had already taken the lead and headed into the hotel.

Booth stopped by Temperance and as he leaned against the counter, the perky receptionist's eyes fluttered and her bright red lips curved upward. "How may I help you, sir?"

Temperance cocked an eyebrow at the girl, well aware of the fact that Booth's physical appearance had apparently mesmerized her. "We need a room," Booth smiled politely, looking over at Temperance, who was still glaring at the girl.

She tapped a few keys on a keyboard and clicked a mouse a couple times. "What type of room were you wanting?" she asked, a hopeful sound her voice.

"Two beds, please," he requested, shifting his weight and leaning more towards his partner.

After a few more key-taps, she sighed. "I'm afraid all we have are one-bed suites. We're all booked up."

"Oh, hell, just give us the damn key," Temperance snapped, earning a concerned look from Booth and a scared look from the receptionist.

"Uh…yes, mam…right away…" Within another minute, they each had a key and began walking towards the elevator. "If you need anything, just let me know!" she called out.

Turning in the elevator, Booth raised a hand in acknowledgement, but dropped it as the doors shut. "I'll sleep on the couch," he assured Temperance, who was now leaning against the wall in the small space.

"We've shared a bed before," she reminded him, recalling an undercover case a few years back.

With a raised eyebrow, Booth swallowed hard as the elevator dinged and the doors opened. "After you…" he held out his arm.

* * *

After changing into her flannel pants and a tank top, Temperance crawled into the bed, feeling the coolness of the sheets on her skin. As her body relaxed, her eyebrows pinched together as she saw Booth standing by the window. "Aren't you going to sleep?" she asked, her eyes already becoming heavy.

With a soft smile, he walked towards the bed, slipping his jacket and tie off. He kicked his shoes off and sat on the edge of the bed as he unbuttoned his dress shirt. "Goodnight, Temperance," he spoke quietly, leaning back into the bed.

She rolled to look at him, her hair falling around her face as he looked back at her. "Goodnight, Seeley."


End file.
